A day after India rebuffed Washington's appeal for fairness in legal cases concerning opposition parties as "unwarranted" and "unacceptable," the United Nations stepped into the fray, expressing its hope that all citizens can participate in the country's parliamentary elections in a free and fair environment, news agency PTI reported. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, expressed hope on Thursday that in India, as well as in any country holding elections, people's political and civil rights are protected, and all citizens can vote in a free and fair atmosphere.
Dujarric made these remarks in response to a question regarding political unrest in India preceding the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of the opposition Congress Party's bank accounts.
“What we very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, that everyone's rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair,” Dujarric was quoted as saying by PTI in its report.
The United Nations' statement comes after a similar reaction from the United States regarding the arrest of Kejriwal and the freezing of the Congress party's bank accounts. On Wednesday, after India summoned a senior US diplomat to protest remarks concerning Kejriwal's arrest, Washington reaffirmed its stance, stating that it supports fair, transparent, and timely legal processes.
In response to the US diplomat being summoned, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said: “I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations. But of course what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don’t think anyone should object to that, and we’ll make the same thing clear privately.”
Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena to their office in South Block, located in the Indian capital.
The meeting, which lasted for more than 30 minutes, took place following India's response to recent remarks made by the US State Department regarding the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. India deemed these remarks as "unwarranted" and emphasized its pride in its independent and robust democratic institutions, asserting its commitment to safeguarding them from any undue external influences.
MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during his weekly press briefing in New Delhi, described any external commentary on India's electoral and legal processes as "completely unacceptable".
In India, legal processes are driven "only by the rule of law", Jaiswal stated on Thursday.